What is your opinions about micro brands?

Traska, Nodus, SWC, Oak & Oscar

I still want a Dufrane 🤔…. And will def. Get a Formex that speaks to me…and def. Anordain!! At the Wind Up this year Isotope caught my attention as well… even Xeric a bit on the space side but cool none the less!!

Higher end would be Monta, Damasko, AnOrdain

Lorier are some neo-vintage goodness & a Falcon Series III will be my next watch.

Baltic is understated elegance.

Farer has won a WatchCrunch 64-brand tournament.

Xeric has some fun & different options.

Boldr are some great field watches.

What draws me to these brands?

1. They take some design risks the big brands won't.

2. I'd be lying if I said price wasn't the biggest factor for me. I can't afford multiple big brands watches.

3. I'm more likely to be supporting an individual or a family rather than a corporation.

Nodus (on the way), Halios (it’s a crap shoot but hopefully a Universa will be in my future), and Vertex (it will be a stretch).

I would love the Anordain but the lack of transparency around wait list is annoying. Maybe it’s me.

Zelos (Elshan really knows his designs), Monta (just about at the rarified heights a microbrand can go to before declaring themselves an independant brand), Wise (doing very nicely with their 904l steel cases) and NTH (very nice homages of 60s and 70s diver designs).

I would say Damasko is a full on independant brand by now.

My current microbrand favorites are Baltic, Islander and Henry Archer (my third from them is on the way).

I don’t mind a pre-owned one 😉

All microbrands are not created equal.

I have a Monta. I’d gladly add a Serica, Lorier, Farer, Minase and/or Halios to my collection.

In regards to Vaer... I have one and like it. Their play is on the American-Assembled angle. If you don't care about that, I don't think the rest of their line is super compelling, but I have the C5 Field Black as my beater watch and enjoy the conversations it starts about the lack of robustness in the American watch industry, especially when compared to Switzerland and Japan and Germany.

I am lucky enough to have two Nodus, also have a Farer and a CW…..by the way Nodus has a new release coming out soon…..microbrands, love them!!!

I’m a big believer in microbrands. You can get so much more watch for your money with them.

These are the ones I’ve currently got.

Depends. I initially had distrust due to backing Helgray when they initially came out. But I own 2 Christopher Wards and a Dan Henry. I adored all 3 three pieces and am interested in buying they're products again. Microbrands with a proven track record often provide of a bang for your buck than the big brands

I Love my Grayton California. It's one of my favorite micro brands.

As much as they are great value and well made (most of them) ,for me there is no getting round the lack of history (provenance?) and name. I've had 2 micro brand watches now and both I just didn't bond with and it's been because of this. I never thought I'd say this EVER but on some level I am a watch snob.

For me they need to not be copy pasting a legacy piece and innovate in their design philosophy. All old brands were at some point a micro brand. Brew are a good example

An easy trap to fall into for newer collectors -

Buy a few well specced microbrands and don't fall in love with them & you're left with watches that have deprecated loads & are hard to sell...

Once I've refined my tastes I'll buy a couple of higher quality microbrands (thinking Vertex, Monta, Farer) and keep them.

As it is I'm stuck with an awful Zelos Swordfish that I'm going to gift to a friend.

I Love microbrands and I have a few on my list RZE,is a recent maker off the top of my head and I just love they bring more to the table and a break from the norm

I very much like microbrands. @UnholiestJedi is spot on in saying some take design risks the big boys don't. My problem is that there are too many, every time I come in here there is a new one, it's hard to keep up !

Maen and Direnzo are high on my list and maybe a zelos if they bring out something like the Nova.

I like Vario - because it’s a local (for me) microbrand.

Baltic and Islander are on my list

Depends. Some are just mass produced watches with a brand name slapped on them.